Soul's Requiem
by vegie kun
Summary: Sequel to 'Zero Soul'.The Zero Wars may be over but what transpired during that time is not so easily forgotten. As Heero tries to help Relena pick up the pieces the nightmares begin, putting a strain on their already fragile relationship. Left to question who she really is, the enemy long thought dead battles for control as it makes a bid at resurrection...
1. Prologue: Fragmented Whispers

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing or anything associated with it. So blah blah blah and all that good stuff.

AN: Hello. Yes I know it's been awhile since you've last heard from me. If you want to know what I've been doing all this time… well, I've been dead. No, not really, but it's all the same. Anyways, I am finally getting to that sequel I've been promising everyone for about what? 3 years now? Sorry for the delay but I've really been tied down with a whole shit load of work. Since the end of Zero Soul I think my writing has matured somewhat, so whether or not you like it I would like to think it's an improvement upon its predecessor. If you're wondering about the title let's just say it's an homage to Requiem for a Dream (great movie… just really disturbing). Anyways on with the show.

* * *

**SOUL'S REQUIEM**

Prologue: Fragmented Whispers

By: veGie-kun

"I'm here"

"Yes, I'm well aware of that. What did you want to see me about?" Une's stern, businesslike voice was sharp and succinct.

"It's about Darlian."

"And what about her?" She asked, not even bothering to look up from the heap of papers she was scanning over.

"I would just like to know the status of her present condition. If the effects of the Seele units have worn off completely, how she's coping with her new found physical attributes… how she's handling her personal relationships."

"As of now she is still quite stable if not a bit depressed," she set aside her present stack of papers to retrieve another bundle from her left drawer, "Major Po has said there have been no side effects that she is aware of that is a direct result of the units. Physically, the Foreign Minister has yet to adapt to her new strength, but she's been training rigorously with Major Po and agents Chang, Maxwell, and Yuy. If there are any suggestions you'd like to make regarding her rehabilitation, they are welcomed."

"Thank you. I just wanted to check up on her."

"Alright. If there is nothing else then please leave, I have a lot of work to finish up." There was a brief pause but she called out to him at the last moment, "Oh, Dereks, before you leave, would you mind telling me why you're so concerned with the Foreign Minister?" But it was too late the closing door signaled his exit.

* * *

[knock] [knock] [knock]

"Miss Darlian? Are you in there? Hello?"

[knock] [knock] [knock]

"Are you sure she's in?"

"That's what they said and I haven't heard anything about her leaving the vicinity."

"Do you think she's all right?"

"She's probably sleeping or something."

"I guess it's true… the things they've been saying around here."

"And what's that?"

"That those things OZ implanted her with caused some permanent damage to her psyche."

"Permanent damage? How so?"

"I don't know the exact details; the only thing I can say is that she hasn't been the same since they rescued her. Haven't you noticed the way she's been acting? The only word I can use to describe it is introverted. You remember how she was last year, don't you? She was so cheerful every time she visited this place, always eager to give a smile and spend a few minutes talking to everyone. Now… she hardly ever says a word to anyone. And the way her eyes look when you just happen to lock onto them… they seem so cold, but sad at the same time…"

"I think she's just still hurting inside. She's been through so much and there's no one here who can relate with her about the things she's experienced. Wouldn't you feel like you were alone in the world because no one else could understand the things you'd gone through? I don't think I'd be up to talking with anybody if the same happened to me."

"But aren't you afraid it could possibly mean that she's not totally cured? What if deep down inside her that 'thing' still exists just waiting to be let out again. It'd be a mistake then to have her here at headquarters, don't you think?"

"If that 'thing' as you call it is still lurking somewhere inside her, the best place for her to be would be Preventer Headquarters. We'd be able to detain her quickly enough if that 'thing' were to reappear. Just think about it. Exactly what would she be able to do against a few Gundam pilots and all the Preventers here? I think that's what Colonel Une had in mind when she asked Darlian to stay here."

"I see your point, but all the same I wouldn't want to meet up with the same person that nearly took down all the Gundam pilots. Hey, you wanna get some food? My break is in a few minutes."

"Sure, but what did you have to see Darlian about? Shouldn't you try to take care of that before you go?"

"Just some files from Major Po that I had to drop off, she wants to do some more tests on the Foreign Minister. I can come back after lunch to drop them off."

"Alright, that works for me. Where do you want to go for lunch?"

* * *

"You know, Heero, they could be right. She might still be inside, dormant, but still a part of me," Relena's somber voice broke through the silence of the unlit office as she stood unmoving by the shuttered window.

_/I need not a body in order to be./_

Pivoting her body slightly to the right she was able to make out the young man's shadowed form. She sighed inwardly. _::Those enhanced sense are still with me… I thought that they'd eventually fade over time, but it's already close to two months now... Will I ever be myself again?:: _She let out a mirthless laugh as another thought occurred to her. "It's sort of funny, you know… In the past, I always wished that I had your strength, to be just as strong and unwavering. Now that I have something equivalent to it, why am I miserable? It's what I wanted, right?"

_/Unyielding strength was what I offered, but you rejected it./_

A strong arm wrapped around her lithe frame as a low voice coaxed away her anxieties. "You never needed my strength… you always had enough of your own. That strength is the one thing that is making it possible for you to still carry on now. I look into your eyes and I see the pain, but the pain hasn't gotten a hold of you." He turned her around and stared deeply into her eyes. Despite the relative darkness, they glowed brightly, making Heero ache to drown in them forever. "I can tell just by looking into your eyes. Believe me when I say that she no longer exists inside you. You're free from her."

_/People are never truly free until they're dead./_

"But for how long will I be free of it? Of her?"

"Forever."

_/There is no such thing as forever. Even time will eventually come to an end./_

-to be continued

* * *

Yeah, not much of a prologue but it is a start. At least I'm writing something, right? I've been pondering about the sequel for years now and there was always a concept, but it was just hard to put down on paper. I hope the rest of the chapters will follow the original plan I had for it otherwise; I'm really going to have to question my ability as a writer (which isn't that great to begin with). And just to warn you, I'm not sure when the next chapter will get out.

Also I would like to clarify that this story probably won't be the monster that Zero Soul turned out to be. There will less Gundam action and well... less action in general but it'll have plenty of suspense... I hope. This story is going to focus more on Relena's recovery and the after effects of the Seele units. Another important aspect will be how the ambiguous relationship with Relena and Heero gets affected by the recovery. Lastly this story will try to fill in the holes about the Seele units that Zero didn't get to as well as give Rei the proper farewell she deserves. So fair warning from here on out, there will be 1+R along with the established 2xH and 6x9.


	2. Ocean Blue

Disclaimer: Gundam Wing and its characters are the property of Sotsu, Sunrise, TV Asahi, Bandai, etc. I don't own any part of it and I'm not making any money out of it either. This is purely for entertainment purposes, nothing more and nothing less.

AN: I made a few changes to this one as well when I decided to start writing again, but changes were very minimal. When I got to this fic I'd already found the style that I like writing in. But what you can expect from here on out is something that's more mature on my part.

* * *

**SOUL'S REQUIEM**

Chapter 1: Ocean Blue

By: veGie-kun

It was a chilling spring morning that greeted Relena when she finally decided to throw off the covers and abandon her futile attempts to re-enter the dream world. But then again there wasn't much to go back to, just dreams of endless red and disjointed screams. Fragmented memories of a life led by a person who was and was not her; glimpses into a world overseen by a soldier as perfect as the one protecting her from the shadows. Come to think of it, dreams wouldn't be the proper term; no one would consider them as such - nightmares maybe? Or were they suppressed memories? Whatever one labeled them, they were haunting Relena mercilessly. Too often would she wake up screaming or gasping for air as she was torn from horrendous images of violence and death. This morning was no different.

Walking to one of the various windows in her room she threw open the shutters allowing the fresh breeze to ward the slumber away. The sweat collecting on her forehead began to cool and she reveled at the sensation because these days they were rare and random. Savoring the quiet interlude, she scanned the mansion grounds. The light fog made the task difficult but she was still able to locate the familiar form of Heero Yuy roaming around the rose bushes, clothed in a heavy black pea coat. The sight of him at this dawn hour still took her breath away, despite the numerous times she would see him during the day.

What would he think of her if she told him of the nightmares? Disgust came to mind but she quickly cast aside the thought. _::Heero would never look at me that way. He'd most likely see it as a security threat and motion for me to be kept under heavier surveillance. Then he'd get Sally to run a few dozen tests on me until he was satisfied that the situation was under control… Yeah, that sounds like him. Makes me wonder whether or not I should hate him or be touched by his thorough concern::_ Her ponderings came to a stop when she noticed said soldier heading towards her direction and it wouldn't do to be caught staring. Closing the windows, she stalked over to the bathroom to prepare for the day ahead.

Passing by her standing mirror, she paused to take part in another daily ritual. Leaning forward she closely inspected her eyes searching for any hints of crimson. There was no real need to worry; Sally had assured her countless times before that she was completely free of Rei. But there was no harm in being cautious and so she'd continued until it became a compulsory habit. As the dreams continued so did her need for reassurance and the color of her eyes was enough proof for her to go on freely with her routine. Although she had never personally seen them while they held their strange bloodied hue, she'd seen enough pictures to know what to expect. They also taunted her at night in those elusive nightmares, but never had she come face to face with those crimson orbs. Although impossible, she imagined what it would be like to meet the infamous Rei. _::She was designed to be another Heero Yuy so would it be the same as talking to him? Would she give me the same stony glare and curt answers in a flat, monotone voice? Rei and Heero… Duo once mentioned that they seemed to be two pieces cut from the same cloth… So should I think of her as I think of him? No, what am I thinking? Despite Heero's cold exterior, there's still compassion in him. No matter how emotionless he makes himself out to be, he's the most feeling of us all. It's those same feelings that drive him to go beyond his physical capabilities. That makes it possible for him to break through even the most fortified barriers people put around themselves… Rei… can never be like that…::_

Shaking her mind free of those thoughts she looked up towards the wall clock and saw that she'd spent too much time in her reveries and quickly walked the rest of the way to the bathroom.

* * *

_::I can't believe I'm still working on this. It's already been 3 months and I'm still not sure what to make of Rei. How were they able to create her? What are her full capabilities? Did she only exist within the Seele units? We removed those things from Relena so quickly we never really got the chance to analyze the being, Rei, and her effects on Relena…::_ Sally rested her head upon her folded arms, she'd been working tirelessly night and day over that past few months trying to solve the puzzle that OZ created. _::The files Heero managed to retrieve on the Seele units were vital in shedding light on their individual functions, but much of the crucial information on Rei remains blank.::_ She was about to doze off but a knock at the door interrupted her. Sitting up she turned to see Dereks standing in the middle of the doorway. "Why. Hello."

He smiled at her and closed the door behind him. "You wanted to see me?"

She looked confused for a moment but realized what he was referring to, "Ah, yes, I did. It's been bothering me for awhile now. Come and have a seat so we can talk properly."

Taking the offered chair, he sat and looked at her expectantly. "Well?"

"It's about those Seele units Whitenburg implanted on Relena… Well, more specifically it's about Rei. Who exactly programmed her and how were they able to do it? Is she some sort of artificial intelligence? Is she capable of thinking beyond the commands given to her? How proficient is she at evolving past her programmed boundaries?" Sally spouted uncontrollably, a result of frustrating months.

He held up both hands to stop her. "Hold it there for a minute. Those are things I know nothing about. First of all, I'm just a soldier, not a computer engineer, and definitely not an expert in the field of artificial intelligence and secondly, they kept all information concerning this from me." There was bitterness in his voice, "Apparently, Julian didn't trust me to refrain from using such data against Darlian considering the animosity I held towards her."

"Yes… I see how that could be a problem…" Sally said, rolling her eyes. "What about the doctors? I'm pretty sure one of them had to be the brains behind the design of those things, but the question is which one?"

Dereks looked at her incredulously. "Didn't you think to ask these questions while they were in Preventer custody?"

"Apparently there were some technical issues surrounding their interrogation and we didn't have enough reasons to detain them. Something about them possibly spilling their country's secrets," and Sally made a skeptical face, "or some other bullshit. After those governments made such a big fuss we had no other choice but to release them to the custody of their respective countries to be tried and sentenced there."

Silence loomed afterward as the two contemplated whatever remained of their options. "Would it be within the Preventer's power to go ahead and kidnapped one of those doctors and secretly question them?" Dereks suggested 'helpfully'.

"Well," she smiled at him sweetly, "if you're asking whether or not the Preventers have the resources to accomplish something of that nature, the answer is yes. But," she grew quite serious, "if you are asking whether we can _legally_ do it and not incur the wrath of various nations, then the answer is no. We'd have those governments breathing down our necks faster than you can put on a pair of boxers."

"Well I do take a considerably long time putting on my boxers…," he drawled out sarcastically.

_::Eww. Bad mental image – wait... hmmm…::_ And she proceeded to do a mental assessment of the man in front of her. _::On second thought, a rather nice mental image… yes… very nice…::_ Breaking free of those thoughts she went on to reprimand his joking in light of a serious situation. "Interesting little fact, but I don't see how your inadequate skills at dressing yourself will help us any in solving this problem." She turned her chair around and went back to evaluating the data on the screen. "Is there any way we can simulate the program? Can we run it through a computer? Or maybe-"

"Look," his voice sounded a bit strained, "like I told you before, I don't know anything about how she was created. Whitenburg kept most of the information to himself or with that group of doctors!"

In the next instant, Sally whirled on him. "Goodness! You don't know anything! I don't know why Whitenburg kept you around considering how useless you are!"

Dereks' anger flared only briefly before he decided that it wasn't worth the trouble to get into an argument with the good doctor. "My, aren't we the temperamental one?"

* * *

"Hello Foreign Minister Darlian!" Some Preventers greeted as the young woman entered the floor. She smiled at them politely and waved hello before heading for her office in the back. Her stride quickened as she heard familiar footsteps keeping pace with her. Normally she wouldn't have minded his presence, but lately Heero's ever vigilant gaze had become suffocating. Her brain knew her recent erratic behavior towards him stemmed from her fear of his inevitable discovery about her dreams. Since her return, he'd shown a considerable amount concern for her and soon her odd behavior would become all too apparent. _::But that's alright, isn't it? If he was able to detect something that Sally overlooked and prevent Rei from manifesting herself, shouldn't I be overjoyed that I won't be controlled again? So why the anxiety? Why do I __always feel the need to flee whenever he's around? Why is there so much sadness in my heart every time he looks at me? What's wrong with me? Why am I not the way I use to be?!::_

"Ah-" She collided unexpectedly into someone but knew instinctively that it was Heero. When had he overtaken her? These days it was rare that anything could evade her keen senses, but then she remembered that this was Heero and her new clairvoyant-like senses were nothing compared to his years of experience. Before he could speak, she sidestepped him and closed the distance to her office. She almost managed to shut the door before Heero could enter but he proved more agile and snuck past her. Laying his hand on the door, he closed it for her.

Leaning against it, he sighed and gazed down at her. "You've been acting strange lately. What's wrong?"

"What makes you think that I'm acting strangely?"

He eyed her with an indiscernible expression then began to tick off the reasons one by one. "When you see me walking in your direction you not so subtly walk into some random room, corner, or back in the direction you just came from. On average, you say no more than three words to me per day. You haven't talked to me… _**really**_ talked to me for days. Every time I catch you looking at me, you have this odd distant look in your eyes. And just now you tried to slam the door in my face. Are those reasons good enough for you?"

"I wouldn't call what I did slamming," she replied dismissively.

He gave her a blank stare. "Hastily closing then."

"I wouldn't call it that either," she countered looking off to a far corner.

His brows furrowed and his frown deepened. "... You're being stubborn."

"I am not," she yet again rebuked under his withering glare.

Closing his eyes, he let out a heavy sigh. "Hn.… You're worse than Duo."

* * *

"Achoo!"

"Oh, Duo honey, are you catching a cold?" The petite German girl exclaimed, rubbing his back while looking for any tissue packets she may have brought with her. "Maybe we should head back inside."

"Nah, it's ok, Hilde, I'll be fine. Got a strange feeling from it though." Grinning, he took hold of her hand. "Maybe I'm just hungry."

"You're always hungry though," she retorted, poking his stomach.

* * *

[knock] [knock]

"Who is it?"

"Your friendly neighborhood doctor and operative," came the reply.

"Come in Sally," Une called out, not bothering to look up from her current work even as the footsteps came and stopped in front of her desk. "Work related or just a casual visit?"

The doctor smirked, "Straight to the point as usual I see. Well then, it is work related. Specifically speaking, Rei's still as much of a mystery to me now as she was months back."

Lady Une finally looked up and contemplated the woman before her. "Why come to me about this?"

She seemed to waver slightly before steeling her resolve and answered, "I wanted to get permission for an experiment in regards to those Seele units. Studying the data we acquired proved useless since that information was only about her training. Additionally, Relena's account of the entire incident is hazy at best so it's been hard to glean any useful information out of her. So…"

"So?"

* * *

It was more than mere coincidence when Dereks happened to spot Relena at the beach later that day. He'd inquired enough about her daily activities to know she often spent her afternoons on the quiet sands, staring at the vast ocean blue. After his meeting with Sally, he couldn't get the subject of Rei and Relena out of his mind. The good doctor seemed quite frantic, well a more appropriate term would be frustrated, with discovering the true nature of Rei. The main reason for why he acted the fool that day. _::Why couldn't she understand that Rei, although created on a computer, had to be in someone in order for the personality to manifest itself. Running it through a computer won't bring up an entity of any sort or a voice to communicate with either. If she wants to understand it, the only possible way is to implant those devices onto someone and subject them to a kind of mental imprisonment worse than torture. And from what Whitenburg's research discovered, the only person who was able to handle the mental strains of the Seele units and endure the Zero system was Darlian. Then again, considering there's no longer a need for the test subject to pilot a gundam, they wouldn't need to sync it with the Zero system. If that's the case they can just implant those things on anybody. Shit! What the hell am I saying? That program is dead and its corpse buried, there's no reason to resurrect it again::_ He snapped out of his deep contemplations just in time to see Relena stepping gingerly into the cold ocean water. She really did look too much like Anna he thought.

He scanned the perimeter and located her ever-present bodyguard, Heero. _::Doesn't he have anything better to do? Geez, it's like he thinks she'll be kidnapped at any moment. Wonder what happened to make him so paranoid... Oh, wait, I remember now, we did kidnap her that one time. Oops::_ Oh how she must hate this new situation, he thought. To have the person she loves close by, but as an omnipresent bodyguard rather than a friend. He figured she just had the worst luck in the world, fortune's fool in some ways, but then again, in this era, everyone seemed fortune's fool. _::Oh, great, the thoughts are turning __dismal again. It's bad enough that I've lost both Anna and Julian, but to have these thoughts over Darlian? I may have to see a therapist about this::_

Doing his best not to alert the keen-eyed guardian, he made his way towards the young woman as casually as he could. He couldn't remember the exact reasons for wanting to see her, but intuition told him that it wasn't just for kicks. There were questions he needed to ask of her, ones that would help rid him of the unsettling feelings in his stomach. _::Damn that woman for doing this to me. I wasn't even considering the possibilities that someone would want to awaken Rei just for the purposes of science. I figured they'd still be recoiling from the aftershocks of what that girl did. Who in their right mind would want to resurrect the same monster that just destroyed their city? It's unthinkable but it doesn't mean they're unwilling to do it. This must be one of humanity's greatest flaws, never knowing when to quit while they're ahead. Always thinking they'll come out on top no matter the situation. Hmph, gods they fashion themselves to be, how irritating::_

"Is there something you want?" Relena interrupted his thoughts startling him.

He paused, stunned, but kept his face impassive. Had he just been careless with masking his presence or had Julian's monster truly been so terrifying? He kept his eyes on her as he closed the few meters of distance between them, before turning towards the ocean. "It's been ages since I've seen the ocean. I forgot how blue it was."

"Then you may never remember again when it changes and disappears," she replied in turn, having settled herself into the sand, hugging her knees.

"My, aren't we chipper today?" He retorted, "Optimism must run strongly in your family. I remember Zechs was just a bundle of sunshine when he was at the academy." When she didn't take offence to that jibe he sighed.

"Change is inevitable and everything that has a beginning has an end…" she trailed off, staring intently at the horizon where sea met sky.

Something about that statement bothered him and he began to scrutinize the young woman in front of him. Then a thought occurred to him and he crouched down next to her, whispering, "Is Rei bothering you again?"

Relena nearly jumped at the statement, hastily turning to face Dereks with a look just short of panicked. "What would you know?" she spat fiercely, so unlike her normal persona.

Unperturbed by her outburst, he raised a hand to her cheek. "In this light, at this angle, they look just like hers did," he murmured softly until he felt the barrel of a gun against the back of his head "Hello Yuy."

-to be continued-

* * *

A.N: Somehow even though I know where I want to take this story I just can't seem to set it up the way I want. There are so many scenes playing themselves out in my head but I just can sort them out fast enough but at least these updates aren't exactly yearly. I'll try to get them out quicker but I'm trying to go for a different feel than Zero Soul, something more suspenseful. I also apologize if it seems that I'm trying to involve more of Dereks, especially if you didn't care too much for his character. But his role is vital since he's the only one left with a connection to the Seele project and also to fill in for all the missing male roles that have accumulated. Hope you liked.


	3. Words Unspoken

Disclaimer: Gundam Wing and its characters are the property of Sotsu, Sunrise, TV Asahi, Bandai, etc.

Author's Note: Sorry that it's been like ten years since I last wrote anything for this story, I found this a lot harder to write than Zero Soul and just gave up when I hit major writer's block. So when I decided to give this another go I had to read Zero Soul over again to get a feel for what I wanted. And then I realized that there were a lot of things with Zero Soul that I just wasn't happy with so I revised it. Aside from making the story flow better, I changed certain plot points so if something seems different compared to Zero then it's because of the changes I made. One important overhaul is that the Tamashii units were changed to Seele units (I wanted to get a bit of German in there considering the fact that Whitenburg was German). If it's been a while since you last read Zero Soul I highly recommended revisiting it to see how it's improved.

* * *

**SOUL'S REQUIEM**

Chapter 2: Words Unspoken

By: veGie-kun

Entry Log #9

AC 199 – 0520

Subject: Relena Darlian [Peacecraft]

Today marks the ninth week of rehabilitation for subject RD and the twelfth week since the removal of the Seele units. Currently subject RD appears to be suffering from a form of mild insomnia and depression. Physical characteristics observed during the last medical examination include change in skin pallor, dark circles underneath the eyes, involuntary twitching of the hands, and increased listlessness.

Reports from Preventer Yuy makes note of an enhanced hyper-awareness and acuity to the presence of others and a inclination to avoid physical contact outside of scheduled rehabilitation sessions. Preventer Yuy is of the opinion that her current condition may be stress related. Reports also noted the subject's persistent refusal to disclose any detail regarding the matter. In light of the relationship between the subject and Preventer Yuy, the behavior seems unusual and misplaced. Further observation is needed though it may be more advantageous to assign a third party to monitor the situation in Preventer Yuy's place.

Previous rehabilitation sessions revealed no change in physical capabilities. Subject RD still maintains high levels of strength, speed, agility, and stamina that is similar to the levels seen three months prior. Subject's body also seems to have maintained its reflexive fighting knowledge. Sparring sessions with Preventer Chang clearly shows that subject RD is fighting on a level close to original ability perceived before Seele unit removal. It is highly probable that this is attributed to the conditioning experience gained during OZ captivity. Conditioning may be deeply ingrained into subject's subconscious. Attempts to discern the level of mental rooting has so far been proven unsuccessful due to what appears to be mental trauma from memory reload experienced during the Gundam battle with Preventer Yuy.

Further mental evaluation is needed in order to determine a new direction necessary to accommodate ongoing rehabilitation needs. Suggestions of abstaining from work have been met with adamant refusal. Close observation is the only course of action that is currently plausible until further notice.

-SP

* * *

Wufei yawned as he stretched his arms high above his head, exhausted and irritated but nonetheless satisfied with his end of the month report. If there was one aspect of the Preventers that he absolutely loathed it was definitely the paperwork. He understood Colonel Une's needs for detailed reports since their funding relied solely on how effective they were as a peace keeping organization. However, that meant keeping track of essential weapons, needed supplies, and whatever equipment that had been utilized in their missions. It was getting so damned tedious these days; hell, he even had to take into account every single bullet that he'd fired for every single mission he had been on this month. _::Damn bureaucratic nonsense! I'm a soldier, not some god damned pencil pusher.::_ He growled low in his throat and proceeded to print the report as the faint click of an opening door caught his ear.

"Someone's panties are in a bunch."

Wufei closed his eyes, his frustration growing, and sighed inwardly. "Maxwell, how many times have I told you to knock before you enter my office?" He swiveled his chair to glare up at the braided young man.

Duo gave him a sardonic grin as he leaned against the door frame. "If I'd knock to let you know it was me, you would've locked the door."

"My point exactly." Wufei crossed his arms over his chest, ignoring the pained expression his friend was giving him. "I'm incredibly busy right now so I don't have the time to spare to help you alleviate your boredom."

Duo's grin returned and he walked in, ready to call Wufei's bluff. "I know for a fact that you just got done with the monthly report, the last report you'll be writing until the end of next month. Additionally you're not scheduled to assist in Relena's rehabilitation until next week nor are you assigned to any pending missions. So you shouldn't have anything left to take care of for the rest of the day." Seeing the scowl on his comrade's face made his grin impossibly wider. "Besides you're the only person I can really talk to about this."

Resigning himself to his fate, Wufei leaned back in his chair. "About what?"

"About what the hell is going on between Heero and Relena." Duo quickly supplied.

At that the Chinese youth closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Maxwell," he began, slightly annoyed, "if you wanted to gossip, you could have easily done that with the receptionist. I hav-"

"I'm not here to gossip." The American interrupted seriously. "Even you should have noticed the tension between them... I mean... I think everyone has by this point. Even just yesterday I saw Relena practically bolt out of the elevator once it reached this floor. Seems to me like she was looking to get away from Heero, and fast... I've tried talking to the both of them but all I get are glares and blank stares and a round of 'we're fine'."

Wufei's face turned solemn as he let those words sink in. "Now that you mention it..." _::Things have been strange between those two lately... Since about the end of last month Darlian has seemed more withdrawn and Yuy has been increasingly ill-tempered...:: _A thought occurred to him and he swiveled his chair back to face the computer. Pulling up a file he motioned for Duo to come closer. "I think this might help us find an answer..."

* * *

Heero Yuy had never been the type of man to retreat in the face of adversity. On the contrary, he preferred to answer the challenge head on rather than sidestep the issue. But in this particular instance he'd found it rather difficult to address his concerns without provoking the ire of his ward and instigating yet another argument. As he sat there on the couch off to the wall, staring at the young woman behind the desk he couldn't help but wonder at how things had changed over the last few months.

After having come so close to losing her he finally understood that neither time nor fate would wait for him to sort out his feelings. And so he had made up his mind to come face to face with the emotions he'd been harboring for the last few years and see where they would lead him. But it was a thing easier said than done. It was still all new to him; having suppressed such concerns for the better part of his life all in the name of survival. In all honesty he had no idea how to tackle the situation, he just knew that he couldn't disappear on her anymore.

But for all his false bravado he'd been hoping that she would have taken the lead in this _thing_ the two of them shared, whatever it was. But with her strange behavior as of late it was difficult enough trying to hold a conversation with her let alone encroach _that _particular topic. Of course he had other venues with which to seek advice when it came to such matters but he dared not broach the subject with any of them. If he were to seek out her brother it'd be akin to asking for the wrath of God to strike him down where he stood. ::_I might as well take my gun and shoot myself in the foot.:: _Duo had been another option but he couldn't stand the thought of the American laughing at him for worrying over something so mundane and trivial. _::I also wouldn't put it past him to tell everyone in Headquarters...Thanks but no thanks. I don't feel up to being the laughing stock of the entire department:: _Noin would have been a perfect candidate but for the fact that she would most definitely report to Zechs the contents of their conversation and again that would be inviting the wrath of God.

So for the time being he chose to stare her down while she worked through the latest set of proposals regarding future settlement and colonization of Mars once the planet had become habitable. With the intensity of his gaze he figured she'd start to feel uncomfortable and finally look his way but he could see that she was trying her damnedest not to flinch by the way her jaw clenched ever so slightly. He sighed inwardly, wondering to himself how things had gotten to this point. After they had made their resolve to work together to get her readjusted to her new life, she'd been so open and straightforward about everything. They would often eat lunch with one another, spend time in her garden where she would share her knowledge of the plants with him, and on occasion go out with with the other Preventers. It seemed to be going so well; Heero had thought she was getting better... was returning to her usual self... just up until a month and a half ago.

She started to become quieter, less talkative, and as a result their conversations became shorter and shorter. During those sparse conversations he noticed that she would often stop mid-sentence, a blank expression on her face and subsequently forget what she had been saying when she became aware of her surroundings once more. From there it grew to long bouts of awkward silence between them that further devolved to a few sentences and then just greetings. She also did everything she could to avoid making eye contact with him; seemingly scared to do so.

When he noticed the dark circles under her eyes he knew that she was losing sleep. Since she had not been forthcoming as to why she wasn't sleeping he made it a point to run surveillance on her at night. Perched on a tree a few meters from her bedroom he monitored her. Aside from the nights when she'd decided to take work with her to bed he noticed another worrying behavior. On numerous occasions he saw that she would toss and turn violently before a scream would tear away all vestiges of sleep from her. Panting heavily and shaking uncontrollably she would cry as slumber failed to reclaim her.

The first time he'd observed that incident he had tried to broach the topic offhandedly and she, with all the skills of a seasoned politician, replied to his inquiry without actually answering a single question he'd ask. He knew she was intentionally changing the topic and dismissing his concern. When he'd observed the incident happening a few more times he had asked her point blank why she was having problems sleeping. In turn she'd given him work as the excuse behind her missed hours of sleep. After his last attempt at trying to engage in that conversation she began to avoid him. But as her bodyguard it was now his job to ensure her safety; that meant being at least within visual range of her. In the past they'd desired so much to get to know each even as they spent their lives away from one another. So it was tragically ironic that even as they spent so much time together now, they no longer had anything to say.

Saying that he was frustrated with this recent development was an understatement but he really hadn't a clue of how to fix the relationship since he wasn't even sure how it got broken in the first place. So for now he settled for seeing who would cave in first in this test of wills.

* * *

"So what is this?" Duo asked leaning in closer to the monitor.

"It's Darlian's last rehabilitation evaluation. If I had to trace back their abnormal behavior to a point in time, it would be somewhere around here." He scrolled down the file until he found what had been thinking of. "It's been a little over three months now since we removed those things off Darlian... Considering the nature of those devices and how they affected her mind and body, Sally said that psychologically she should have returned to normal almost immediately. However, physically, she said that it would take anywhere from two to five months." He paused as he tried to remember another piece of information. "... Dereks told us that when OZ had her they spent over nine months conditioning her to be an elite soldier... So it wouldn't be farfetched to think that she'd be able to maintain those heightened levels of strength, speed, agility and endurance for a greater amount of time."

Duo nodded in agreement. "Okay, I can understand that."

"Well if you look at the log of our last sparring session," Wufei pointed to a certain paragraph, "it was noted that when we tried to get Darlian to actively attack, she didn't know what to do. She couldn't recall any form of combat training with which to use. However when I initiated the attacks she was able to counter all of my strikes."

"What?" The American was flabbergasted by that admission, "How is that even possible?"

"Exactly." Wufei replied pensively, "Even with those heightened senses, she shouldn't have been able to counter those attacks so easily... It may be that on a subconscious level, her body is able to defend itself instinctively. But that doesn't go on to explain this." He brought up another file. "In this exercise we wanted her to put together a disassembled gun."

"Eh?" Duo's interest newly sparked. "How did that go?"

The other youth shook his head and gave a wry grin. "For all the grace and skill she possesses in handling those two-faced, forked-tongue politicians on the dance floor, she was like a bull in a china shop... I know she's handled a gun before, Une can attest to that, but her trying to put one together was similar to a child smashing puzzle pieces together. But that knowledge is there... it just won't come out when she thinks about it consciously."

"How do you figure?"

"We blindfolded her." Wufei smirked, the idea had clearly been his. "When we did that... after initially passing her hands over the parts, she assembled that thing so fast, it practically brought a tear to my eye."

"... Then that means that psychological she may not be back to normal." Duo said gravely.

Wufei nodded. "Those are my thoughts exactly." He proceeded to pull up another file. "When we did an initial evaluation we had Darlian relate everything she could remember from the moment of her kidnapping. At one point she mentioned waking up in Yuy's arms during that last battle and then seeing images of all the death and destruction 'Rei' caused..." His brows knit together as he tried recalling something his partner had said. "Sally theorized that when those things broke down, the unit that stored all the memories had nowhere to relay those memories to and must have sent some of it directly into her brain since they were neurologically linked."

Duo moved to sit at the edge of Wufei's desk, as he digested the new information. "Well that explains why she would be depressed... but she was dealing with them just fine before in therapy. The question is, what's changed in the last month to make them like this?"

"Hmmm..." Wufei contemplated, tapping a finger against his desk. "Sally mentioned recently that it seems like Darlian's been suffering from insomnia..."

A thought struck the American. "It could be that these memories are recurring again and appearing in her dreams..."

"That's one possibility..." Wufei conceded. "But if it's the same memories from before... then she should have reconciled with them by now; she's been in enough sessions..."

"... Then what if more memories are popping up?" Duo surmised. "What if the things she'd been seeing initially was just a fraction of the information that got sent to her brain?"

Wufei contemplated the possibility of such a thing. "... That would go into explaining her new found insomnia and why she's still able to do certain things on a subconscious level... This could be a problem. We need to discuss this with Sally as soon as possible."

* * *

"I can't believe Colonel Une gave you the green light on this." Dereks sighed tiredly, a large and heavy unmarked box in his arms as he waited for the elevator.

The woman in question looked up to meet his gaze and smirked. "These are very important experiments that will help with Relena's recovery."

He frowned at that. "Isn't it more to satisfy your own curiosity?" Dereks questioned sternly. "I know the Seele units have been frustrating you for the past few months... But to do this of all things... Aren't you being a bit rash?"

"Did you read the latest logs from her therapy sessions?" She saw him nod in acknowledgment. "Then you're aware that something's been bothering her for quite some time now. The sessions can only glean so much from her... the things she chooses to disclose. If we let this continue further she may end up slipping away from us... to a point where she may not be able to recover from." Her voice turned grave. "Strong as she is now, whatever is bothering her has been taking a toll on her body." They heard the ping of the elevator and made their way inside the small compartment as soon as the doors were open.

"I understand where you're coming from, I honestly do." He shook his head, trying to reason with the doctor. "But do you even have the slightest clue as to what you're doing? How do you even know this will work? What if it backfires on us? What if Darlian finds out and it triggers some sort of post traumatic episode?"

She looked up from her clipboard, and tried to assuage his fears. "I'm in the process of consulting with the Gundam's engineers to get their assistance in this. They have much more experience than I do in the field of computer science and artificial intelligence; they're the ones who designed the systems in the Gundams after all. If they can help me design a procedure to decode those Seele units, they can also help me design contingency plans that I can implement based on the course of the experiment."

Dereks readjusted the box and leaned against the elevator walls for support. "Then shouldn't you wait until you've hashed this plan out with them first before you start?"

Sally was getting visibly exasperated with every question. "Yeah, that would be the safe route." She agreed, "But by the time we do 'hash' something out, we will still need to set things up... Depending on how long it takes to devise a plan, it may be months before anything is set and ready to go... If Relena's condition worsens, we may not have months. So doing this now is a necessary risk." She said it with such finality that Dereks refrained from probing further.

For the duration of the ride down, the small compartment held a palpable level of tension. No matter what his views on the doctor's latest experiment was, he was not in a position to go against her. One of the concessions he'd agreed to in order to join the Preventers was that he'd give his full support to whatever the good doctor decided. Colonel Une took him on for the sole purpose of helping Relena adjust to her new predicament. _::Oh how I wish I'd been able to predict this turn of events... but the foolishness of people was always something beyond my comprehension:: _He was brought out of his reverie when he realized they'd been going down for quite some time with nary an interruption. "Why haven't we stopped yet? We should have gotten to your lab some time ago."

"We're not going to lab just yet." Sally replied mysteriously.

That caught him off guard. When he thought about it further he remembered seeing that the doctor had inserted her ID card into a slot on the elevator panel before opening a hidden compartment. _::The floor she's chosen must have been restricted to all except a few personnel... Now I'm intrigued... Just where are you taking me...:::_

When the elevator finally came to a stop they stepped out into a dark room, the faint glow on a keypad on the wall their only source of light. He was barely able to make out Sally's form as she inserted what he assumed was her ID card into a slot on another panel. The metal doors immediately slid open and they found themselves entering a dark corridor. As soon as the first step was taken the automatic floor lights were triggered, lighting up the pathway that led to yet a larger metal door. The doctor once again slid her ID card into a slot above the wall panel and proceeded to punch in a code he couldn't quite make out. As the metal door slid open, the lights inside automatically turned on and Dereks was greeted by the sight of the five Gundams and Tallgeese.

"Okay," Sally spoke up as she made her way inside. "Let's get to work."

-to be continued-

* * *

Author's Note: So how was that for the first chapter after the long absence? I have to say that it feels really good to start writing again, even if it was also a bit frustrating. But as I was writing this, I was getting a clearer and clearer picture for the direction this story will take. Hopefully I'll be able to get out another chapter soon but most likely it won't be for another month at the latest. Feedback is greatly appreciated.


	4. Turning Gears

Disclaimer: Gundam Wing and its characters are the property of Sotsu, Sunrise, TV Asahi, Bandai, etc.

Author's Note: After this chapter you may be wondering why I'm giving my OC so much face time in this series. Well, truth be told, by the end of Zero I was starting to like the direction his character was heading into and I wanted to explore that a bit. Also, I was in need of someone to be something of a whipping boy for Sally and Une. Though Wufei would make a viable candidate, Dereks is someone who's not in a position to protest much considering how Une is using his past to keep him in check. He also provides a link to Relena's time as Rei during.

* * *

**SOUL'S REQUIEM  
**

Chapter 3: Turning Gears

By: veGie-kun

Within the large underground hanger Dereks, having stripped down to only his white undershirt and black slacks, scowled from within WingZERO's cockpit as his elbow slammed into the seat in his attempt to remove another metal panel. The cramped space had definitely not been designed to accommodate someone of his 196 cm frame and athletic build. Having already been customized to perfectly fit the smaller Heero Yuy, the second seat that Heero had requested be installed to accommodate Relena only served to make his dilemma even more uncomfortable and aggravating. As he moved to place the metal panel out of his immediate vicinity he dropped his screwdriver. Signing in frustration he bent down to retrieve it and proceeded to bang his head rather harshly against the control terminal. "Gottverdammt!" He roared, shattering the relative silence.

Rubbing his forehead tenderly he couldn't help the anger rising within him. "Let's get to work she says..." he muttered, making sure he was loud enough for the room's other occupant to hear. "As far as I can see I'm the only one doing any sort of work!" He peered out of the cockpit and spotted the woman with the blonde princess curls. His eyes narrowed with indignation when he realized that she had barely acknowledged his outburst. Instead she had remained calm, typing away at her laptop from her seat on a metal foldout chair. His eyebrows twitched as the seconds ticked by and she continued to ignore him, hardly batting an eyelash his way.

_::That's it! I've had enough!:: _He stepped out to properly address the woman who apparently regarded him as little more than convenient manual labor. "Tell me again," he began gruffly, "why I'm the one in here even though it's quite painfully obvious that there's someone else in this room who's a much better fit?"

Sally looked up from the screen to stare at him, wide eyes blinking innocently as if she'd just forgotten that she wasn't alone. "Because you know more about mobile suits than I do." Came her simple reply.

_::Are you serious?::_ He screamed mentally, wondering if she was purposefully acting the fool because she derived some sort of sick perverse pleasure in riling him up. "I'm a pilot not a mechanic," the tall man gritted through his teeth, crossing his arms over his chest. "The only thing I really know about the internal workings of mobile suits is where the fuel cells are located and how to change them out."

In response she leaned back into her chair and crossed her arms, mimicking his movements. "You know..."she drawled out, cocking her head to the side, "the more you make known such admissions about yourself the more useless you become in my eyes."

He closed his eyes briefly to quell the whirlwind of emotions running through his head, ready to burst out. _::Calm __down... calm down...:: _"Well sorry for being so useless," he seethed with a level of patience that quite surprised him, "but if you really felt that way, then why don't you get someone else to help you. Or..." he drawled out in a manner similar to hers, "are you saying that the Preventers are so inadequately staffed that they have no one even near my level of _expertise_?"

The doctor ignored the sarcasm in his voice and regarded him for a moment before she turned back to her laptop. "There's only a select few within the Preventers who know that the Gundams are currently within our custody and I intend to keep it that way."

"Then why am I here?" He questioned suspiciously. "I would think that someone of my precarious position would be deemed too dangerous to be let privy to such a sensitive secret. And if I remember correctly you currently have..." He paused briefly to do a mental count. "three Gundam pilots working within this organization. They would definitely know a great deal more about how to work around this thing."

She fell silent momentarily. "... Those guys would never agree to such an experiment," she finally admitted hesitantly.

That statement just about floored him. "All the more reason why we shouldn't even be attempting this in the first place," he shouted incredulously after a moment of silence. "Considering the level of experience they have concerning these types of matters, if you're of the opinion that they'd veto this... this experiment, then shouldn't you take that as a hint to abandon it entirely?"

Sally looked up from her work to fix him with a deadly glare. "May I remind you of the conditions you agreed to when you were allowed to join us?" She curtly rebuked. "You are here to repay a debt to Relena Darlian and Colonel Une has put you directly under my supervision to see that task through. So for now you are to assist me in whatever endeavors I choose to pursue in regards to the Foreign Minister's recovery."

Despite the tone of finality in her voice he refused to lay to rest the matter at hand. "This is too dangerous a path to undertake."

The doctor closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. "In my profession," she began seriously, opening her eyes once more, "treating just the symptoms does little more than provide the patient with temporary relief. If you want to cure someone, you go after the cause of the illness and eradicate it."

The tension between them was palpable as they held each others' gaze, refusing to be the first to look away. The ringing sound of a phone soon broke through the stillness and Sally moved to free the cell phone from her jacket. She answered the caller but refrained from breaking contact with Dereks' hard brown eyes. "Sally Po speaking... Yes, thank you for getting back to me so soon, I've been anxious to speak with you... You looked over everything I sent you?... Good, good... and what is your opinion on the subject?... Uh huh... Mmmm... Okay... Oh really? Hmmm... I'll see what I can do to arrange that." She snapped the phone shut and rather than disclose the contents of that brief conversation, Dereks could tell that the gears were once again turning in her head. He knew that nothing good would come of this and the smile she gave him all the more confirmed his fears.

* * *

On another floor of Preventer Headquarters Wufei was experiencing a certain level of frustration similar to Dereks with regards to Sally Po. For the life of him he could not find where his partner had ended up. Asking the other agents on the floor yielded little results and only served to lead him in a wild goose chase. They'd initially pointed him in the direction of the elevator and made mention of her leaving with Dereks hours ago. That had led him to the first floor where the young women at the front desk denied having seen her leave the building. They 'helpfully' suggested checking her lab which resulted in him going further down the building's levels only to be greeted by a sadly unoccupied lab. After that he decided that going from floor to floor would be his most viable means of finding her. But as he made another round through their floor his mood had become quite foul; the visible vein popping out of his right temple was a testament to that.

_::Where can that woman be?:: _He grumbled mentally. _::She hasn't signed out for the day yet, but I can't find her anywhere on the premise! If she was going to disappear on me like this, the least she could do was inform me ahead of time.:: _With a very audible growl that made a few of the new recruits jump away in fear, he stalked over to Duo's office.

With the door left slightly ajar Duo spotted him before he could cross the threshold and managed to switch the screen from the computer game he had been playing to a spreadsheet of the latest crime statistics in Northern Europe just in time. "Hey Wufei, what did Sally have to say about our findings?"

The Chinese youth threw the manila folder he'd been holding onto Duo's desk and shook his head, sighing. "Unfortunately I couldn't find her anywhere. Since it's already Friday, I doubt we'll be able to present this to her in person until Monday." He fell silent, contemplating their next course of action. "I guess we can just summarize everything into a file and send it to her via email. She can look over that information at her leisure and we can discuss everything else next week."

"That sounds awesome!" Duo agreed enthusiastically, beaming at Wufei with a 100 watt smile. However, the smile soon turned into a frown when he noticed that the other young man hadn't budged from where he stood. "... Well... aren't you going to get started on that file?"

If looks could turn people into stone then the one Wufei was sporting could have easily petrified their entire department. Crossing his arms over his chest, he narrowed his eyes and sneered at the braided agent. "Oh, I've done enough work for one day Maxwell. It's high time I pass the baton over to you." He saw the look of protest on the American's face and cut him off before he even began. "I have spent the last hour going from floor to floor trying to discern her whereabouts while you," his eyes narrowed perceptively, "have been up here playing that new shooting game that came out last week – don't even try to deny it. Dereks let it slip to Sally how enthusiastic you were when it came in the mail."

Embarrassed that he'd been found out so soon and cursing his redheaded office mate for letting his secret slip, Duo could do little more than nod and accept the assignment. With the mood Wufei was in, if Duo refused him, he wouldn't be surprised if the uptight Chinese youth threatened to reveal the extra curricular activities he was engaging in while on the clock to Colonel Une.

* * *

Meanwhile, in another office located on the same floor, Relena placed her pen down and stretched her arms high above her head, finally finished with the work that she'd allocated for herself that day. As she lifted her head up to stare at the ceiling she was met with a haze of chestnut brown hair. As he leaned his forehead on top of her head, his hands on the back of her chair for support, she could hear him exhale an almost imperceptible breath.

Heero knew how stubborn she could get and if he didn't make the first move then they'd always be trapped in this never ending quandary. Swallowing his pride he began to relay to her what he'd been fearing the past month.

"Relena... " he began hesitantly, "If... if you hate me so much... I can have Une arrange for someone else to replace me as your security detail."

"Wha-?" Her eyes widened, shocked by his words. "I don't hate you!" She attempted to swivel her chair to face him, but he held it firmly in place.

"Whenever I see you... I can't help but feel like you want to do nothing more than run away..." He paused and she could feel his pent up emotions through the shaking chair. "You don't want to be in the same room as me... You won't tell me what's wrong... you can't even look me in the eyes... What am I supposed to think?" He lifted his head up and slowly turned the chair around.

The look she gave him held a certain sadness and ambivalence; he'd never seen her so unsure before. The young Foreign Minister tentatively reached out and took hold of his left hand. "Heero... I don't hate you..."

"Then why won't you tell me what's been bothering you? You've been acting strangely the past few weeks..." he bit his lips, afraid to venture further into the conversation, "... especially around me... Can you blame me for feeling this way?"

Squeezing his hand, her eyes pleaded with his, imploring him to say no more. The things he wanted to know were the things she feared telling him most. "... I... Please believe me when I say that I could never hate you..."

Closing his eyes, he shook his head "no". "Tell me what's wrong." He commanded firmly.

"I can't!" She replied quickly, a note of panic in her voice.

"Why not?" His voice remained firm and unflinching though his tough facade was slowly beginning to waver as he witnessed her panicked state.

"Because-" Her shoulders shook but Heero couldn't tell if it was from sadness or anger.

"Relena..." The young man moved to kneel in front of her.

"... I can't tell you because..." Her voice hitched slightly as she fought back the tears; the weeks marred by sleepless nights, fear and self isolation seemingly having caught up with her, "I'm not even sure of it myself... I don't know what's wrong with me..."

He brought his free hand up to caress her cheek in an effort to comfort and calm her wayward emotions. "That doesn't matter... we can figure that out later... I just..." Heero searched for the words he wanted to say; expressing his emotions and desires into actual words was still so foreign to him. "... I just want you to talk to me... I told you all those months ago that I would be here for you... I'm not going to back down from that promise... but you have to _**let**_ me be there for you."

She looked at him forlornly and Heero could see the conflicting emotions in her eyes even as they began to well up with moisture. "... I fear," she finally sobbed as the tears started to fall, "that if I tell you... you'll come to hate me..."

The sadness in her eyes nearly broke his heart. His expression softened and he smiled gently at her, squeezing her hand reassuringly. "Relena... I could never hate you," he placated, echoing back her previous words.

Relena silently contemplated his confession. She knew Heero was not one to throw around frivolous declarations and niceties, either in his work or personal life. As the seconds ticked by she eventually decided to push aside her fears and trust again in his words. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, waiting for the tears to subside before opening them again to squarely meet Heero's steady Prussian blue eyes. "... I wish I knew where to begin..."

"You can start by telling me what's been waking you up in the middle of the night."

Though she was initially taken aback by that request, her eyes soon narrowed at its implication. "How did you know I've been waking up in the middle of the night?"

He cocked an eyebrow and gave her a wry grin. "Do you really need to ask?"

Her lips pressed together into a thin grimace as she continued to glare at him. The Japanese youth sighed as he closed his eyes. That look was one he knew all too well. He'd seen it countless times in the past though it was usually leveled at the enemy or some annoying, incompetent bureaucrat. Whenever she'd set her mind wholeheartedly on a certain task, refusing to give up or even budge an inch on it until said task was completed, she'd given that look.

"... Whenever it concerns you, I tend to notice a lot of things," he finally admitted a bit grudgingly, "Things like how you haven't been getting enough sleep. So naturally I would want to find out why. And since you never answered those questions when I initially asked them I figured the best way of getting to the truth was-"

"To spy on me in the dead of night?"

Shrugging and feigning innocence he glanced back at her and noticed that she wasn't the least bit mad. Instead she smiled and shook her head. "Honestly Heero... you haven't changed your ways one bit over the years... So where were you? Hiding behind a bush?"

He gave her a sheepish grin. "Up in a tree."

She couldn't help the laughter that escaped her lips. That sound was like music to the stoic man's ears; it had been so long since he'd last heard such mirth coming from her. "You do realize..." she began, trying hard to regain her composure, "that if you keep doing things like that people are going to label you a stalker..."

"Hn. That's not something I want to hear coming from you..."

She wiped away the tears of laughter that had formed at the corner of her eyes. "Yes... well..." she began as she tried to smooth out the wrinkles of her skirt in an attempt at nonchalance. "I was only a fifteen year old girl back then and if you didn't already know, fifteen year old girls tend to think more with their heart than with their head." Her smile turned into a wicked grin. "But you, dear friend, don't have the luxury of that excuse, do you now?"

"... Well, the nice thing about being on your security detail..." he began in his usual monotone voice, "I can always pass it off as necessary measures to ensure your safety." The corner of his mouth turned up slightly in a half smile. "You know," he began again, moving the hand that had been caressing her cheek to brush back stray locks of her hair behind her ear. "I haven't heard that laugh in over a month... I've missed it," he confessed shyly.

She hung her head, the feeling of guilt and shame made it difficult for her to look him in the eyes. _::I've pushed him to this point... My fears did nothing but cause him pain... I should have had more faith in him... I should have realized that he's not the kind of person to turn his back on his friends:: _The sudden realization that avoiding him had done nothing but put a rift in their relationship and make him worry caused her chest to tighten up. "I'm sorry... for having made you worry... I never meant for things to turn out like this... I-I just..."

"Relena," Heero interrupted as he moved to stand up, her hand still within his. "You don't have anything to apologize for. No one here has been through what you've been through so it's not as if we're experts when it comes to your situation. We're trying to figure this out ourselves as well... But you're the only one who knows what's going on with you... Whenever you're ready to let me- let us know about it, we'll be ready to listen."

"Thank you..."

[Knock] [Knock] [Knock]

They both instinctively wrenched their hands out of each others' grasp and quickly put as much space as was possible between them at the sudden noise from the door. Heero moved back to his couch as Relena swiveled her chair around to face her desk once more. Out of the corner of her eye Relena saw Heero recomposing himself, gathering up the papers regarding an upcoming conference he'd been going over previously.

"We'll continue this conversation tomorrow at your place." Heero stated firmly as he sat down.

She nodded in acknowledgment as she took out her handkerchief to wipe her face before moving to brush back her hair. "Come in," she shouted firmly, a stack of papers now in her hands.

* * *

"It's just one thing after another with that woman," Dereks grumbled to himself as he fixed his uniform. Now that he was alone, the elevator ride up seemed to take longer than usual. After that last phone conversation she had with whoever it was on the other end, she promptly told him to drop whatever he was doing and immediately go to Colonel Une's office. He didn't know why he was so annoyed with being told to do this. In fact, he should have been ecstatic about having been excused from doing anymore demeaning manual labor, but his keen instincts, honed through years on the battlefield, told him otherwise. His hands paused as he finished straightening his tie. _::To have such obsessive and devoted friends... I don't know whether to feel jealous or sorry for Darlian... *Sigh* I wonder what goes on in her head... I can't believe she lets these people just do whatever they want to her... all in the name rehabilitation... There's gotta be something more to it than that... No... From what I've seen of her in the past, she's not the type of person to just allow herself to be swayed by others... She's letting them do this... She wants to continue to do this... but why?::_

The ding of the elevator signaled his arrival at his desired floor and he pushed off from the wall he'd been leaning against during the ride up. Scanning the office he noticed that many of the other agents were already cleaning up their workstation, preparing to end the workday and get some much needed rest and relaxation during the weekend. _::Geez, just how long was I down there for?::_ Looking down at his watch he noticed that the hands had stilled at 10:35._ ::Of course this had to happen. First I get roped into being Dr. Princess Curls' lapdog then the one thing I relied on to keep my sanity in check dies on me. Dammit. The moment I decide to turn over a new leaf, God decides he wants to test my resolve by trying my patience. Damn Julian! He said the battery on this thing would last at least a decade. Argh! Would it have killed them to install a clock down there?::_

Dereks knew that his thoughts were taking an irrational turn, but after years of being in that underground base, cut off from the rest of the world, he'd come to rely on watches and clocks to give him a sense of time flow. He needed the reassurance that things were moving forward... that life was moving forward, because without it, he would always go back to the day of Anna's death. For his friend, time had stopped on that day and he witnessed first hand what that did to a man as seemingly unmovable and powerful as Whitenburg. _::If not for the watch he and Anna had given me, I'm sure I wouldn't have fared as well if I'd chosen to let things take its natural course. More than likely I would have followed Whitenburg and Anna to the grave...::_ Before long his feet had taken him to Une's office, forcing him to cut his musings short. With a light tap on the door he waited for permission to enter.

"Dereks?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Enter."

Coming through the door he noticed Une was in a heated conversation with someone over the phone . Not knowing how to proceed he stood at the ready behind the two guest chairs that sat in front of her desk.

"Explain to me again why this needs to be done? I know I gave you free reign over this but I didn't know you were going to shift the entire department around... Fine... but it'll be limited to only those who may be directly involved... Yes, those personnel... I hope you know what you're doing," she signed over the receiver, "because honestly I don't know how any of them are going to handle the news of this new arrangement... Yes, I fully understand the need for precaution and this might be the safest and easiest, albeit temporary, measures that we can implement..."

Dereks saw his superior pinch the bridge of her nose in frustration and felt a pang of sympathy for her, having been in a similar situation not long ago. She soon turned her sights on him and motioned for him to sit down while she did her best to wrap up the conversation.

"Are you sure those are the only people you want in the loop? What abou- But what if things get out of hand?... Are you sure? …. You know, I wish I could say that I won't be held responsible for what may happen but just the mere act of giving you the green light makes me accountable... Alright... I'll trust you with this but I expect you to inform me of everything that goes on, do you _**understand**_?" She hung up the phone with an audible thud and closed her eyes, leaning back into the large executive chair.

Dereks let out a laugh to lighten the mood and instantly she fixed a curious gaze on him. He gave her a wry smile and shrugged. "Sorry, my apologies, but I couldn't help it. That sounded just like an earlier conversation I had with Major Po."

"..."

"What?"

-to be continued-

* * *

A.N: Sorry if Sally may seem a bit OOC but I always saw her as someone with a commanding, strong personality who wouldn't take crap from anyone. Also, the story may be developing really slowly but trust me, once it gets rolling, it'll definitely speed up to a nice pace. For those of you who think I'm gonna flake out on this story let me just say that even though I might not have the time to really get down and write, since I now have a clearer idea of where this story is going, it won't go into indefinite hiatus like it did the last time. In fact, whenever a particular scene comes to mind, I immediately try to jot it down. So no more ten year gaps between chapters, I promise. The only thing I'm unsure about though is the length of the story. It's still up in the air and I guess I'll make it as long as it has to be to get the job done. The only question is... should I make shorter chapters and post them up more frequently even it means splitting up chapters that have a similar theme or just continue doing what I'm doing now and post when I feel the chapter is complete... We'll see how this goes.


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